Friction draft-gear.



E. W. NEWELL.

FRICTION DRAFT GEAR.

APPLICATION mm JUNE 23.1914. RENEWED sun: 23.1911.

Patented Feb. 12, 1918.

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INVENTOR W Ww/Z Att'y.

E. W. NEWELL. FRICTION DRAFT GEAR. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23. 1914.RENEWED um: 23.1911.

1,5,916. Patented Feb.12,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

7 /4 U igyJ I WITNESSES 6 INVENTOR M Bl lttlt EDWARD W. NEWELL, 0FPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA,

ASSIGNOR TO THE WESTING- HOUSE AIR BRAKE COMPANY, OF WILMERDING,PENNSYLVANIA, A. COBPORATIQN OF PENNSYLVANIA.

FRICTION DRAFT-GEAR.

teaser-c.

Application filed June 23, 1914,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD W. NnwELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in FrictionDraft- Gears, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to friction draft gear as applied to railway carsfor yield- 1n ly resisting draft and bufiing stresses.

he principal object of my invention is to provide animproved frictiondraft gear of the type having the friction surfaces 1nclined to the lineof draft in which a single set of draft springs is employed or bothdraft and buffing, so that the gear may be ap l'ed in a confined s ace.

Ether objects and a vantages Wlll appear in the following more detaileddescription of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings; Flgure 1 is a vertical section of afriction draft gear embodying my invention showing the parts under abufiing stress; Fig. 2 a similar view, showing the parts in normalrelease position; Fig. 3 a horizontal section of the above draft gear;Fig. 4 a vertical section of a portion of the friction draft gear,showing a slight modification; Fi 5 a vertical section of a modifiedform 0 friction draft gear embodying my invention, showing the partsunder a butting stress; Fig. 6 a similar view, showing the parts innormal position; Fig. 7 a horizontal section of the draft gear shown inFigs. 5 and 6; and Fig. 8 a trans verse section on the line aa of Fig.5.

Referring to Fi drawings, the friction draft gear is shown applied to acar having the usual car floor 1, bolster 2, and center sills 3, thedrawbar 4 being supported by a strap 5 secured to the center sills andthe friction draft gear by a similar strap 6. t

The friction mechanism of the draft gear preferably comprises a frontfollower plate 7 having oppositely inclined frlction faces 8, a rearfollower plate 9 having opposltely inclined friction faces 10, and wedgeblocks 11 having inclined friction faces adapted to engage the frictionfaces of the follower lates. p Said wedge blocks also have inclinedfriction faces adapted to engage corresponding Specification of LettersPatent.

gs. 1, 2, and 3 of the movement, since the rear Patented Feb. 112,1918..

Serial No. 846,747. Renewed June 23, 1917. Serial No. 176,633.

friction faces mentioned wedge blocks are centrally apertured to recelvea bolt 13 which extends rearwardly and carries the draft springs 14 and15.

aid springs are positioned between a front retainer 16 and an adjustingnut 17, the spring retainer 16 preferably having a concaved outer faceadapted to engage a similar face of the rear central wedge block 12, sothat draft spring mechanism can adjust itself to irregularities ofconstruction or movement.

According to the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the rearfollower 9 is connected to the draw-bar 4 by link 18 havin enlarged ends19 and adapted to exten through slots provided in the rear follower.

he front ends of the links 18 are provided with slots 20 to receive akey 21 carried by the draw-bar 4. Plates 2 are secured to the centersills 3 and are provided with stops 23 for the front follower 7 and stop24 for the rear follower 9.

When the parts are assembled, the nut .17 may be screwed up so as toplace the draft springs 14 and 15 under the desired initial compressionand in position, one of the flat sides of the nut 17 is arranged to reston a strap 25 secured to the center sills, so as to prevent rotation ofthe nut on the rod 13.

In operation, if a buffing stress is applied to the draw-bar 4, theinward movement of the draw-bar operates to move the front follower 7 inthe same direction, and the rear follower 9 being held stationary inthis direction by engagement with the stops 24, the wedge blocks 11 areforced rearwardly and inwardly against the frictional resistan'cebetween same and the central wedge blocks and the follower plates. Inthis follower plate does not move, the rear central wedge block 12 willbe forced rearwardly, compressing the draft springs 14 and 15, as shownin Fig. 1 of the drawings.

In draft, the action is similar, except that the draft stress istransmitted from the draw-bar 4, through the links 18 to the rearfollower 9 and as the front follower is now held stationary byengagement with the stops 23, the forward movement of the rear followeroperates to force the wedge blocks 11 forwardly and inwardly. Thismovement causes the front central wedge block 12 to be displaced towardthe front and consequently the draft springs 14 and 15 are compressed bythe forward movementof the bolt 13.

It will now be seen that in this construction the same draft springs areemployed both for draft and butting with a draft gear having itsfrictional resistance set up on surfaces at an angle to the line ofdraft.

With this construction, the draft springs are exposed so that the samemay be inspected with facility and in case of breakage the springs maybe replaced without removing the gear from the car.

According to the draft gear construction shown in Figs. 5 to 8 of thedrawings, means are provided for facilitating the release consisting ofan additional spring adapted to act? between the draw-bar and thefriction mechanism,'so that after a buffing or a draft stress, thespring will be effective to assist the release by the direct actionthereof.

The draft gear shown is similar to that illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3of the drawings, but the front follower 7' is made deeper to provide acavity 26 for'the reception of a release spring 27 adapted to actbetween the front central wedge block 12" and the front wall-of thefollower '7. The links 18 are also somewhat different from those shownin the previous figures, being provided with slotted rear ends forreceiving vertical keys 28. The rear follower 9 is provided with sideextensions 29, having slotted projections at the top and bottom for thekeys 28, so that the links 18' may be connected to said follower, bymeans of the keys, the end of the link being inserted in the pocketformed between said projections.

The operation of thisdraft gear under buffing and draft stresses is thesame as that of the construction shown in Figs.

1, 2, and 3 of the drawings, as will be evident, but in releasing aftera buffing or draft stress has been applied, the release spring 27 beingunder compression at this time, the force of said spring acts to assistthe return movement of the draw-bar to normal position. It may also benoted that the force of the spring 27 is effective to increase theresistance of the draft gear ih opposing draft and buffing stresses.

If it is desired to provide a draft gear having less capacity in draftthan in buffing, the construction may be modified as shown in Fig. 40fthe drawings.

In this case either the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 or theform shown in Figs. 5 to 8 may be employed, the modification consistingin providing radial projections on the spring retainer in connection- 16adapted to engage the stops 24". By this arrangement, the force of thedraft springs is prevented from acting on the rear central wedge blockwhen a draft stress is applied, so that "the frictional resistance islimited to that setup by the engagement of the rear follower and thefront central wedge block with the intermediate wedge blocks. Inbuffing, however, the same action is obtained as with the previouslydescribed constructions.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a friction draft gear, the combination with laterally movablefriction blocks having inclined friction faces, of longitudinallymovable central wedge blocks having friction faces adapted to engage thefriction faces of the friction blocks, means operating under bufiing anddraft stresses for moving the friction blocks laterally inward tothereby spread the wedge blocks apart, a spring acting on one wedgeblock and a rod extending through both wedge blocks for transmitting theaction of the spring to the other wedge block.

2. In a friction draft gear, the combination with front and rearfollowers having inclined friction faces, opposed centra wedge blockshaving inclined friction faces, and wedge blocks having friction facesfor engaging the friction faces of the followers and the central wedgeblocks, of a single set of draft springs for opposing movement of thefriction members under both draft and bufling stresses.

3. In a friction draft gear, the combination with front and rearfollowers having opposed oppositely inclined friction faces, opposedcentral wedge blocks having oppositely inclined friction faces, andintermediate wedge blocks having friction faces for engaging thefriction faces of the followers and the central wedge blocks, of draftsprings located in the line of draft at one side of the friction membersand a bolt for operatively connecting the springs to the frictionmembers for opposing the movement of the friction members under bothdraft and buiiing stresses.

4. In a friction draft gear, the combination with a draw-bar andfriction members having the friction faces thereof inclined to the lineof draft, of a draft spring in the line of draft for opposing movementofthe friction members under buffing and draft stresses applied to thedraw-bar and a release spring interposed between the friction membersand the draw-bar.

5. In a draft gear, in combination, a pair of opposed followers, twosets of friction elements, interposed between the followers,

a spring back of the rearward follower and located on the axis of thegear, abutments ments between which the mantis between which the springreacts, and connection between each abutment and one of the sets offriction elements.

6. 1m a draft gear, in combination, two sets of friction elements, aspring in line therewith and with the axis of the gear, abutmentsbetween which the spring reacts, a tension element connecting one of theabutments with one of the sets of friction elements, and a thrustelement connecting the other abutment with the other set of frictionelements.

7 In a draft rigging,

in combination, a spring on the axis of th e gear, two abutspringreacts, two sets of friction elements forward of the spring andconnected, respectively, with the front and rear abutments and arrangedto cause the abutments to travel toward each other in both draft andbuff.

8. In a draft gear, in combination, links, two sets of friction elementsinclosed within the links, a spring exterior of the links and in linewith the gear, said spring reacting on the two sets of friction elementsindependently of the links.

9. In a draft gear, in combination, links, two sets of friction elementsinclosed within the links, a spring back of the links, a rod extendingrearwardly of the links and connecting the spring with one set offriction elements, and means independent of the links connecting thespring with the other set of friction elements.

10. In a draft gear, links, two sets of friction elements inclosedwithin the links, a spring back of the links, and a rod extendingrearwardly of the links and connecting the opposite ends of the springone with each of the sets of friction elements.

In testimony my hand.

in combination,

EDWARD W. NEWELL.

Witnesses:

A. M. CLEMENTs, S. W. KEEFER.

whereof I have hereunto set

